Further Information:

Here is a list of major railway accidents in Canada:

October 27, 1854

Baptiste Creek, Canada West (Ontario)

In the dark and in foggy conditions, a Great Western Railway express train, running seven hours late, ran into a gravel train. At least 52 were killed. At the time, this was the worst railway accident ever in North America.

A Grand Trunk express train derailed and fell into and around the Salmon River. While only two people were killed outright by the impact, many people were badly scalded, and the final death toll was 34.

February 28, 1874

Komoka, Ontario

A fire broke out on a moving Great Western Railway accommodation train, resulting in 10 deaths.

A Grand Trunk Railway passenger train derailed on a bridge; 10 people are killed.

April 28, 1889

Hamilton, Ontario

At a location only around one kilometre away from the Desjardins Canal disaster of 1857, a Grand Trunk Railway express jumped the tracks in the rain and burst into flames, killing 18.

July 9, 1895

Craig's Road, Quebec

On the Grand Trunk Railway, a train packed with pilgrims headed for the pilgrimage site of Ste. Anne de Beaupré rear-ended another train of pilgrims; 14 people were killed.

May 26, 1896

Victoria, British Columbia

The Point Ellice Bridge collapsed, sending a streetcar into the harbour. 55 people were killed.

November 15, 1898

Murray Hill, Ontario

A Grand Trunk Railway express train was switched onto the incorrect track and collided with a freight train, killing 11.

December 26, 1902

Wanstead, Ontario

On the Grand Trunk Railway, a freight train and an express train received conflicting orders releasing them towards each other; all attempts to avoid a collision are in vain and they collided, killing 28.

A Canadian Pacific Railway express train with faulty brakes failed to stop at Azilda and collided with a harvester train; 12 people were killed.

September 3, 1907

Caledon, Ontario

A Canadian Pacific Railway train took the Horseshoe Curve at excessive speed and wrecked, killing seven and injuring 114.

November 10, 1909

Vancouver, British Columbia

A flatcar piled high with timber uncoupled from a British Columbia Electric Railway train and collided with a streetcar. All 24 people aboard the streetcar are casualties; 15 of them die.

November 28, 1909

New Westminster, British Columbia

Less than three weeks after a railway disaster in nearby Vancouver, an embankment carrying the Great Northern Railway over Kilby Creek collapsed and a work train fell through, killing 22.

January 21, 1910

Webbwood, Ontario

A Canadian Pacific Railway passenger trail derailed and fell into the Spanish River; there were 43 fatalities.

March 4, 1910

Revelstoke, British Columbia

An avalanche killed 58 men removing snow from the Canadian Pacific Railway main line through Rogers Pass.

July 7, 1915

Queenston, Ontario

The brakes failed on an overcrowded streetcar on the Niagara Falls and Victoria Park Railway; it careened down a hill and wrecked, killing 15.

January 12, 1916

Brandon, Manitoba

In a thick fog, a Canadian Pacific Railway work train loaded with workers clearing snow out of the yard collided at slow speed with a livestock train, killing 19.

March 20, 1929

Drocourt, Ontario

A Canadian National Railways transcontinental passenger train collided with another transcontinental after it failed to take the siding at Drocourt; between 15 and 20 people were killed.

December 25, 1934

Dundas, Ontario

Due to inattention at his post (he believed his train was on a different track than it really was), Edward Lynch, brakeman on a Canadian National Railways holiday special train, switched the Maple Leaf Flyer train into the rear of his train, killing 15.

March 2, 1936

Albert Canyon, British Columbia

A locomotive tender crashed down atop a group of men removing snow from the Canadian Pacific Railway; 16 people were killed.

December 27, 1942

Almonte, Ontario

A Canadian Pacific Railway train, running late, was struck from behind by a troop train that had failed to maintain enough space. 36 people were killed and the conductor of the troop train committed suicide.

September 1, 1947

Dugald, Manitoba

On the Canadian National Railway, the Minaki Special failed to take the siding at Dugald and hit a Transcontinental train standing on the main line; 31 people are killed.

November 21, 1950

Canoe River, British Columbia

A Canadian National Railway troop train collided head-on with a passenger train; 21 were killed. Red Pass station agent Alfred Atherton, charged with manslaughter, was successfully defended by defense attorney John G. Diefenbaker in a sensational trial.

October 7, 1966

Dorion, Quebec

A Canadian National Railway freight train struck a school bus at a level crossing. There were 19 fatalities on the bus.

November 10, 1979

Mississauga, Ontario

On a Canadian Pacific Railway freight train carrying toxic chemicals, an undetected hotbox led to an axle falling off a moving car, causing a derailment. No casualties, but over 220,000 people were evacuated, at that time the largest peacetime evacuation ever.

February 8, 1986

Dalehurst, Alberta

A Canadian National freight train, for reasons that are unclear, ran a stop signal and collided with a VIA Rail passenger train east of Hinton, resulting in 23 deaths.

July 6, 2013

Lac-Mégantic, Quebec

An unmanned runaway train on the Montreal, Maine, and Atlantic Railway carrying petroleum derailed in the centre of the town and burst into flames; 47 people in the town were killed.